In the Employment and Social Affairs Committee, next week, the Commission will present their Commission communication on the concerted strategy for modernising social protection and at the same time the council will, for the first time, hold a general discussion on the subject. During the Finnish Presidency the conclusions of the Committee will be prepared on the basis of this discussion, said Minister of Social Affairs and Health Maija Perho, heard at the committee on Employment and Social Affairs of the European Parliament in Brussels on Thursday, October 14.

The Commission Communication of the Committee deals with important and topical areas in the development of social protection. Of the four main aims the first is developing social security so that it is supportive of work. The second is concerned with pension security and the development of a durable pension system. The third has to do with the promotion of social inclusion and the fourth with guaranteeing a lasting heath care of a high quality.

The Committee’s two draft conclusions concerning equality between women and men will also be discussed in the Committee meeting. One of them deals with the follow up of the plan of action of the Beijing Conference and the other with a new Equal Opportunities programme which Finland regards as very important.

The Committee has, since 1996, been closely following the implementation of the Beijing plan of action in the EU. The follow up of the plan of action is now being made concrete.

Finland has gathered information from the member states and EU institutions on women’s place in decision-making and suggests, on the basis of this information, to the Committee that we take into use indicators illustrating the place of women in decision-making. At the same time we suggest that the member states develop their monitoring systems so that other new indicators can be developed and taken into use in the different areas of the plan of action, said Minister Perho.

In the November Committee I will present the progress report of the simplification project of the social security co-ordination regulation which illustrates hitherto held discussions and includes suggestions for future work on the plan of action.

Through the Amsterdam Treaty the co-ordination of social security was moved to the division of the co-decision procedure. Accordingly, this suggestion is now in the first reading of the co-decision procedure, and co-operation with the reporter of the European Parliament has begun. For its part Finland strives to promote the simplification of this regulation which is very important for the citizens.

The permanence of the funding of social security is a subject to which Finland would like to draw attention during the Presidency. We are organising a conference in Helsinki on the 22 and 23 of November in which, in addition to the authorities and experts, also the social partners will take part.

The aim is to clarify how the labour markets and the ageing of the population affect our possibilities of ensuring permanent funding for social security. In addition to this the synergy effects of a high level of employment and a high quality social security on the expansion processes of the EU and also in the wider globalisation processes will be discussed, said Minister Perho.